British ice cream lovers have been lining up on land and sea to get a summertime treat from the world’s first amphibious ice cream van.

[image_border img=”http://www.ripleys.com/weird/files/2011/10/Amphibious-IceCream-Van-Blackpool-51.jpg” caption=”Amphibious Ice CreamVan in Blackpool, UK” pos=”center” border=”true” buffer=”true” /]

Christened the HMS Flake 99, after the UK specialty of a vanilla cone with a Cadbury Flake bar on top, the vehicle has a top speed of five knots when on the water. It was built in honor of National Ice Cream Week (May 30-Jun 5) by Cadbury ice cream maker Fredericks and sailed its maiden voyage on the Thames last week. After a tour of Britain’s beaches, the truck’s owners have quite the itinerary planned.

“We are now considering taking the remarkable vehicle across the Channel and onto the canals of Venice to champion Britain’s beaches and give our continental cousins the ultimate taste of the British summertime,” said Fredericks spokeswoman Jenny Bostock. We’re sure the gondoliers would just love that.

[image_border img=”http://www.ripleys.com/weird/files/2011/10/Amphibious-IceCream-Van-Blackpool-21.jpg” caption=”Selling ice cream in the high seas” pos=”center” border=”true” buffer=”true” /]

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